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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <mrboballens699@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2017 22:13:11 -0700
Subject: IT IS URGENT (I HAVE INFORMATION FOR YOU)

Good Day My Dear Please I have an important information for you. But,I am not comfortable disclosing the information because i do not know if I am talking to you, ( the real owner of this Email ID) Whom we also have your other details in our data. So I would like you to confirm your real name /as Proof that you are the owner of this email ID, then I will furnish you with the information /good news that we have for you.(for security reasons) I am waiting for your urgent reply Thanks Mr. Bob Allens

Anti-fraud resources: